


Falling Skies

by Tarenee



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Aliens, Cats, Earthbound - Freeform, Mystery, Science Fiction, space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:20:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23169181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarenee/pseuds/Tarenee
Summary: Mewtwo and his trainer leave Kanto for a new region. While there they are attacked and then rescued by a mysterious girl with an oddly colored Darkrai. Things take an even stranger turn as Mewtwo and his trainer begins to learn truth behind the attack and reveal a sinister plan that could unravel reality as we know it.
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

This story is tied in to a previous fanfiction I wrote a long time ago. If you are wondering why Mewtwo is Karen's pokemon you'd have to read the previous story but I will do my best to explain in here throughout the story to make it easier.

1

It was night time. The sun had set nearly an hour prior and the forest had gone from bright green colors to twilight shadows. A Lampent was moving slowly down the forest path, lighting the way for two other figures who walked behind it. One of the figures, a tall bipedal creature with vague feline features and a long purple tail that moved constantly, looked up, barely making out the moon through small gaps in the trees. He frowned and turned to look down at his traveling companion. A girl about twelve with black hair and green eyes wearing a sleeveless green shirt and jean shorts, who was staring nervously at the trees surrounding them.

[Are you all right, Karen?} the creature asked her, speaking telepathicly. [Are you scared?]

The girl named Karen looked up at her companion with large green eyes, it was obvious by the look on her face she was scared. "No," she told him, making an effort to hide her fear. "I'm fine, Mewtwo. I'll be okay."

The creature named Mewtwo frowned, knowing she was lying. The forest at night always terrified this girl due to a bad experience in her past and, even though both of them were aware of this, she constantly insisted on proceeding through them at the end of the day when she knew full well it would be dark soon. He'd tried convincing her not to in the past but she would assure him that doing so was helping her get over her trauma. Who was he to deny her that when Mewtwo himself had his own bad past experiences in his life?

But that was only part of the reason the two were in the forest at that time of night. They had recently gotten off of a bus that took them into a new region named Ario. The bus station was in the middle of nowhere so Karen and Mewtwo would have to walk through the woods to get to a small town where they could find a place to stay. The female on duty at the bus station had said if anybody wanted to wait until morning to head to the town they could spend the night there. Karen had refused to stay, claiming that they would be able to reach the town before it got dark.

Mewtwo hadn't complained because people had been staring at him the whole time and he didn't like it and refused to stay in his pokeball even though Karen had suggested he do so. He enjoyed his freedom and, even though the inside of the Master Ball was very comfortable, he didn't like being confined. It was nothing but a prison. The girl had stopped recommending it a long time ago when their relationship got better and she came to understand his feelings.

The sun had still been up when they'd left the bus station, as it was late afternoon, but the human girl had misjudged the distance between the station and the town and they wound up still in the forest when the sun went down and darkness fell. So now they followed the path, the way being lit by the pale light of the girl's Lampent who floated along ahead, softly humming to itself.

{Do, you know how soon we will reach the town the human at the bus station told us about?} he asked her, hoping to get her mind off the darkness surrounding them.

Karen blinked then turned her attention to her Lampent, as if focusing on the ghost pokemon's comforting flame would help her. "She told me it wouldn't take more than a couple hours," she replied.

Obviously not. The pokemon didn't say that, the girl was already stressed out enough. Instead he said, {Wait here.} then, before she could protest, he'd lifted himself into the air and flew above the leafy canopy to have a look around. He hovered in the air, scanning the landscape, his eyes focusing on a band of light in the distance. It only took him a couple seconds to realize the light belong to the town that was supposed to have been a short distance from the bus station.

Mewtwo turned and rejoined the girl on the path who looked at him. waiting for an answer.

{I don't think we'll be getting out of here any time soon,} he told her. {That town is further away than the human claimed it was.} he paused a moment then said what else he was thinking. {Or we got lost.}

Karen looked at him. "We can't be lost!" she exclaimed. "we never left the path!"

Leaving the path didn't mean anything. If she'd been paying attention she would have noticed the path they'd taken had many twists and turns and even branches where there was a fork in it. Had she even looked at the map the woman at the bus station had given her?

{It doesn't matter that we've stayed on the path,} he pointed out. {We've obviously gone the wrong are lost and we won't be able to leave this forest If we keep going the way we are.}

Karen's expression changed and he briefly saw irritation flash in her eyes. She looked like she intended to argue with him about it, maybe even make some kind of snide comment in a sarcastic tone she'd used in the past but at the last second she changed her mind. She'd fought with him before when they'd first became partners but now she knew she could never win against him in the war of words.

Instead she asked him. "If we're lost what do you suggest we do?" she reached into her short's pocket and took out a piece of paper which she unfolded. "I don't even know where we are on this thing. "

Mewtwo took the map from her and held it in front of himself. He squinted at it as Karen's Lampent hovered closer to give the psychic pokemon more light. He couldn't read it either, not that he needed to since if it had been up to him they would have just flown there using his powers.

Karen was watching him, waiting for him to give her his opinion. He folded the paper and handed it back to her. {We're lost,} he said again. {I don't even know where we are on that. }

She wordlessly placed it back into her pocket before looking up at him with her eyes basically saying "See? You don't know where we are either."

The pokemon wasn't in the mood to argue with his human partner, instead he made the most logical suggestion. {I could just fly us there. We don't need to wander around this place any longer and get more lost when we can just go over it.}

Karen's eyes widened then she looked from his face to the leaf canopy above and back. He was waiting for her answer and frowned when she didn't give him one. What was her problem now? She had no reason to deny his suggestion when it would save them both a lot of time and frustration. When she got like this it reminded him why he hated humans so much, even her, though the two were friends now.

{What now?}

"Nothing!" she exclaimed. "I'm just-"

The rest of her answer was cut off by an ear piercing scream. She jumped about a foot in the air and turned to stare into the darkened forest as she asked in nervous voice. "What was that?!"

Mewtwo also looked into the woods, squinting in the darkness to see if he could spot who had made the sound. He couldn't see anything through the shadows but his instincts were telling him something, aside from harmless nocturnal pokemon, was hiding in there. Whatever it was it was giving off an odd mixture of emotions, anxiety, rage and .. fear? He wasn't sure if the thing in the darkness was giving off the fear or it was coming from Karen whose fear he was picking up in waves.

After a moment of silence Karen asked, her voice in a near whisper, "Do you see anything?"

The cat pokemon frowned, still scanning the darkness. {No,} he told her honestly. {But I can sense something. Whatever it is is nearby.}

Lampent had turned away from it's owner and the ghost pokemon had wandered away slightly to give him more light to help him see. The light helped but Mewtwo still wasn't able make out anything. Whatever was hiding in there was doing a good job of it, almost as if it was blending into the darkness. Mewtwo looked at back his human partner.

{Stay here,} he told her before moving forward before she could answer him. He stood beside Lampent and peered further at the night darkened forest, his eyes glowing a light blue hue.

I know you're in there, whoever you are. Don't think you can hide from me. I will find you.

The sound of heavy breathing reached his ears as silence fell over the path. He wasn't completely sure but it sounded like it was close and to his right, hidden in the thick brush growing along the side of his path. Just as he turned his head an orb of purple and red light came flying out of it. Instinctly he ducked, causing the ball of enegy to fly over him. Unfortunately Lampent wasn't so lucky and the attack hit it head on, enveloping the poor creature. It let out a terrified shriek then fell silent as it slumped onto the ground, unconscious

Mewtwo, realizing what the attack did turned back to Karen, his eyes flashing with intensity. {Run!}

Karen stared at him for a second unmoving, before the command clicked into her brain and she turned around to obey the order. Something came flying out of the trees behind her the same moment Mewtwo moved, using his powers to pull the girl away from the creature as he lunged, flying over her head and colliding with the creature in a full tackle.

The two beings hit the bushes with a loud crash and a struggle began. Karen, who had been knocked off her feet when Mewtwo had pulled her out of the way, sat on the path beside her unconscious Lampent, listening to the psychic pokemon battle with whatever monster had been stalking them.

Suddenly a shadow came out of the bushes where the two had gone down and came flying at her. She just had enough time to make out a flash of white hair and an intense blue eye before it was knocked away from her by a strong psychic blast from Mewtwo who'd followed it. The creature was thrown back into the trees as the psychic pokemon flew back onto the path and floated in front of her.

{Get up,} he ordered the girl before she could ask any questions. {We are getting out of here.}

The look on his face told her not to argue and she quickly scrambled to her feet, returning her Lampent to it's pokeball as she did. Then Mewtwo had grabbed her arm and shot up, out of the trees, and into open air. He paused for a moment, then, spotting the lights of the town again, started in their direction.

He hadn't gotten very far before a loud scream split the air behind him. Glancing over his shoulder he spotted their pursuer, a black ghostly figure with whispy white hair and insane blue eyes, flying straight at him and Karen.

The psychic pokemon swore and turned his attention forward again. If they could reach that town he would be able to set the girl down and take care of that thing. They just had to get there before it caught up to them

"Mewtwo!" Karen's shout made him look down. The girl was gripping his wrist with her free hand and looking terrified. "I'm slipping!"

The feline pokemon realized then that his hold on her arm wasn't as secure as he'd thought. Instead he let her go and used his powers to hold her telepathically beside him. Now she wouldn't fall and he could focus better as the two flew quickly over the night darkened forest.

"Mewtwo, what is going on?" the girl asked as she flew beside him. "What was that thing?"`

{I'm not sure,"} he replied, frowning with concentration. {But it doesn't seem to like us being in this forest. We must have invaded it's territory. If we leave that should convince it to stop pursuing us.}

"I hope so," Karen said, quietly. It seemed to her that the beast was angry about something, angry about more than them trespassing in its territory.

Mewtwo was thinking the same thing. What with the way it had attacked them unprovoked and the utter madness of it, it felt like something was off about the creature. Very off.

The two had very nearly reached the town when another scream split the air, he turned slightly to see where it was coming from only to be hit hard in the back by a large blast of power. Grunting in pain, the blow shattered his concentration and time seemed to stand still as the psychic energy surrounding Karen flickered and then vanished. Her face twisted in a scream of terror as she was sent plunging downward. The same time this happened something shot past him, something white with a sleek, vaguely feline body, then time returned to normal and he was falling.

Realizing he was going to crash he tried to stop himself only to be shocked when nothing happened when he tried using his powers. Before this had a chance to sink in his body came in contract with the high branches of the trees. They cracked under his weight and he hits the ground hard, landing on his back, bouncing once and then slamming heavily into a short ditch where he lay still on his back his face to the sky, only slightly conscious, as his body took a moment to recover.

While lying there the pokemon became aware of a presence near him. It didn't give off the same feeling as the creature that had attacked him and Karen, as it felt benevolent. He blinked, trying to get his eyes to focus. Doing so only made his vision more blurry. He blinked again and now, what looked like a white head with unearthly blue eyes was hovering over him. Mewtwo's eyes widened as he found himself staring at the strange face with the alien eyes. For ten seconds the two just stared at each other wordlessly, then the creature reached out a glowing white hand and gently placed it on his cheek.

The instant its hand touched his face there was a bright flash of light.

Mewtwo's eyes snapped open, finding himself alone. He sat up, placing a hand on his forehead as he became lightheaded from getting up so fast. That same instant the scream came again, reminding him what happened. Karen!

Summoning his powers, Mewtwo shot up off the ground and into the trees to look for the human girl.

He found her quickly, as she'd only landed a short distance from where he'd fallen. She was laying on her stomach on the ground, her arms stretched out over her head, unconscious. The psychic pokemon floated toward her and reached down to grab her shoulder to turn her over. Much to his relief he discovered that the fall hadn't killed her. She was breathing and seemed to be fine, only unconscious.

Mewtwo carefully picked her up off the ground, keeping a firm grip on her body. Once he'd gathered her up into his arms he floated down the path, making no attempt to fly over the trees in case the monster who attacked him was still up there, waiting for him to get stupid enough to try again.

He hadn't gotten more than a few feet when Mewtwo found the way blocked by a dark figure. He gritted his teeth and swore when he realized it was the aggressive creature who'd attacked them before. He stopped, glaring at the being in the way. Why was it so intent on killing the two? Neither of he or Karen had bothered it.

{Out of my way!} he ordered it tightening his grip on Karen's body as he did so. He realized he couldn't fight it with her in his arms, she would get hurt or worse. {I have no interest in fighting you!}

It remained still, just staring. For a moment the pokemon thought it was going to let them pass but then it screamed and rushed at them, reaching out with a three fingered hand. Mewtwo's flashed blue and quickly put up a barrier to protect them which it slammed into. It backed up slightly then came at him again, trying to get at it's prey.

He stared at it from the other side. He could finally take a moment to to see just what is was and was slightly startled by what he was seeing.

It was a Darkrai but something was off about it. The nightmare pokemon looked as if it had been in some kind of major battle, it's entire body was covered in scars and tears, giving the figure a fragmented look. What was most unsettling was it's eyes which radiated a crazed blue light that gave it a haunted look.

Mewtwo's eyes widened when an image flashed into his mind. Black silhouettes against a grey background and the sound of screaming.

The barrier cracked, breaking down as Mewtwo lost his concentration.

"Get it!"

Something large and white burst out of the trees and crashed into the Darkrai, knocking it backward into the darkness.

Mewtwo, blinked and shook his head to chase the terrible images away and turned his head in the direction the voice had come from.

A figure rushed out of the trees, stopping beside the barrior. He saw that it was a young woman about four or five years older than his charge with long black hair tied in two pigtails and wearing a black trench coat. She turned her head to look at the pokemon, her piercing green eyes resting in a pale face.

"Come with me!" she ordered.

Not really having a choice, he did so, following the young woman as she rushed down the path and away from the sounds of the battle in the trees.

"You're lucky I came along when I did," she said to him as they ran. "Darkrai would have put you in a nightmare you wouldn't be able to escape."

{You seem to know a lot about that Darkrai,} Mewtwo remarked. {Who are you?}

The woman glanced back at him. Her face held no expression, not even surprise that he was able to talk to her. "Platinum," she answered,turning her head forward. "don't worry about what I know about Darkrai, just concentrate on getting yourself and your master out of this forest."

She was talking about Karen. While the girl had caught him in a pokeball, making her technically his master, he refused to call her that. She was just Karen.

{That is not an answer,}

"It's all you're getting for now," she stated. "You need to focus on the most important thing right now and that's getting the two of you out of this forest and getting that girl some medical attention."

There was a light up ahead that grew brighter as they drew closer. Platinum led them toward it and the trio excited the forest, coming out in a small park with a fountain, white concrete benches, and shrubbery cut in the shapes of multiple cute pokemon. The place was brightly lit by old fashion looking lamps that ran on electricity instead of oil.

Platinum didn't stop running until she was sure they were far enough into the park to be safe from the Darkrai in the forest. Then she stopped and turned to look at Mewtwo. "All right, you can stop here," she instructed. "Darkrai won't follow you now. " she pointed out of the park and down down a street lit by street lamps. "There is a doctor's office you can take her to, just keep going straight. The medical staff there is used to seeing pokemon bringing their trainer in and it's free so it won't cost anything."

She started to walk away, pulling the hood of her coat up over her head.

{Hold on!} he exclaimed, his eyes flashing blue. Platinum stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him when she realized he was holding her still. {You didn't tell me why Darkrai attacked us, human.}

The young woman frowned, not happy he was preventing her from leaving. "He can't help it," she answered him.

{What do you mean?}

A sound came from the trees and he turned his attention off her, looking back toward the forest. A white figure flew out of it and toward the woman, hovering beside her when it reached her.

To Mewtwo's surprise it turned out to be another Darkrai. This one was a pale white with blue spikes in a ring around its neck. It had bright green eyes which were glaring at him. Realizing that it might attack him, he dropped his hold on Platinum who relaxed her stance.

"Take the girl to the doctor," she told him again. The white Darkrai was beginning to fly away and she started after it. "That is the most important thing you should be worried about right now."

The young lady and her white companion then re-entered the forest, leaving Mewtwo alone in the middle of the park. He looked down at Karen. She was still unconscious.

Deciding to follow the young woman's advice he exited the park and headed down the artificially lit street toward the doctor's office. That human was right about one thing, Karen needed medical attention and he had to get her to a doctor right away.

The staff at the doctor's office let both Mewtwo and the girl inside without batting an eye at the strange pokemon standing at their door. She was quickly looked after and put in a room within minutes. A doctor came in not too long after and looked her over, informing Mewtwo that she had broken no bones and would only be coming out of this ordeal with a few scratches and a bump on the head.

Mewtwo was surprised at how few injuries the girl sustained from the fall. She'd fallen from a great height and her body wasn't as durable as his. The doctor, who didn't know the full story, simply told him he could stay with her and to let him or any of his staff know when she woke up before he left the room, leaving the pokemon alone with his partner.

The psychic pokemon looked down at Karen who lay under soft white sheets. She didn't look like she was going to wake up for awhile. The fact made him feel sad.

No matter what had happened to them in the past and, even though they didn't always get along all the time, he'd grown fond of her since the time she'd caught him. He turned away from the bed, moving toward the large window in the back of the room, and looking out at the night sky.

He thought back to the events leading up to Karen being there. The psychotic Darkrai haunting the forest and the strange girl with her white Darkrai who had protected him and Karen and got them out of the woods.

There was something strange about all of them.

Mewtwo looked back toward Karen and returned to her. As he stared down at her face he made a decision. Tomorrow he was going to go out and find that girl. She knew what was going on with that Darkrai and he was going to make her tell him everything.

One way or another.

Unbeknownst to Mewtwo he'd been watched by invisible eyes. After the psychic pokemon had gone back to Karen's side the owner of those eyes had departed, flying quietly away from the medical building and down the street were it came to stop in front off a figure in a black trench coat.

Platinum.

The young woman looked up at the figure that revealed itself as the white Darkrai. "So he's decided to spend the night with his master then," she said, as if she could read the nightmare pokemon's mind. "Good. At least we'll know where he is for now and we won't have to worry about him for the time being."

The white Darkrai floated down and then positioned itself beside her. The duo silently watched the building for a moment before Platinum spoke again. "If he's as smart as he seems to be he will leave this region once his master is well enough to travel. Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later, the last thing we need is another legendary pokemon to worry about. "

She turned away from the building, giving the empty streets a careful once over. "I hope those two get out of here before they find out and turn their interests on capturing another." She looked up at the sky with a thoughtful look on her face. "We don't need him getting involved."

The white Darkrai placed a hand on her shoulder and she looked at him. She stared at the dark type pokemon's face for a moment then nodded her head. "I think you're right," she responded, reaching into her coat and taking an object out that lit up when she pressed a button. "We'd better get moving. Hopefully we can find her again before they do."


	2. Chapter 2

2

Images flashed in and out of his vision, coupled with the sound of screaming. The world had become a mess of jumbled pictures, grainy, black and white. Beyond the screams and an ever growing pain that had begun at the very end of his tail and slowly made it's way upward, spreading to his back, arms, legs and chest, a voice was speaking. It was a horse whisper, barely audible, the words out of reach of comprehension.

Stop stop stop! Please be quiet! I can't hear!

As if hearing his please, it all stopped. The chaotic images came to a stop and everything came into a red tinted focus.. The screaming stopped, being replaced by an unsettling silence.

Then a voice spoke up, breaking through the silence. There was a presence and the sound of footsteps.

"Is it still alive?" demanded a deep masculine voice.

"Yes," another, more female, voice responded. "It is very durable, anything else would have expired."

"Excellent, but has it been able to tell you anything? Have you been able to probe it's mind for any useful information?"

"So far we've been able to pick up bits and pieces but it seems to have put up some kind of mental barrier. We cannot get past it."

"Keep trying!" the male voice snapped impatiently. "I will not allow this creature to hide things from me! Continue! If I can't get it willing; I will force it out of it!"

The pain returned and with it, the screaming and disjointed images.

The male voice raised above the chaos. "That's right! Scream! Scream until you can't anymore! I will learn everything about you and you will not deny me!"

The images grew more jumbled, the pain increased, piercing every part of his body. Pictures grew blurry and a static mess before bursting into an erray of colors then everything went black.

"Mewtwo! Mewtwo! Wake up!"

A voice broke into his mind as he struggled against unseen foes. The pokemon lashed out, grabbed onto the first thing his hands caught hold of.

"Mewtwo! Stop! You're hurting me!"

Mewtwo's eyes shot open and he found himself with his hands around Karen's neck. The girl's large green eyes were wide with terror as she stared up at his face.

{Karen!} The pokemon, realizing what he was doing, instantly released her. {I-I'm sorry!}

The girl sat up, grasping her neck as she tried to catch her breath. He watched her worriedly, afraid he'd hurt her.

{Karen?}

The girl turned her head sharply to look at him. He noticed her eyes didn't hold any type of fear, just questions. A sudden clattering caught both of their attention and they turned their heads in unison. The floor was littered with lose objects that had all fallen to the floor at the same time. Mewtwo realized he must have been making everything in the room levitate in his sleep. This made the girl turn back to the psychic pokemon, giving him a questioning look.

"What in the world were you dreaming about?" she asked.

Dreaming? He hadn't even realized he'd fallen alseep until Karen's voice had woken him up. He must have nodded off when he'd been sitting in the chair beside her bed the night before. He suddenly remembered the nightmare he'd been having. It hadn't felt like a dream at all, it was too realistic, like a memory.

But whose?

"Mewtwo?"

Karen's voice brought him out of his thoughts. The girl was sitting up in the bed, staring at him, waiting for him to give her an answer.

The horrible bloody images flashed through his mind again. There was no way he was going to tell her what his dream had been about, especially after she'd just regained consciousness.

{It was nothing,} he told her, deciding it was better to keep it to himself for now.

She didn't believe him. Obviously it had to be something if he'd been making things float around the room in his sleep and flailing around like he was trying to escape from some kind of restraints. The fact he'd grabbed her by the throat and tried to choke her made that clear.

"Then why did you try to kill me?"

Mewtwo looked away from her. {I'm sorry about that,} he apologized again. {Just a bad dream.}

"Was it about Giovanni?" she asked.

An out. Karen was full aware of the pokemon's history with the leader of Team Rocket as she found herself had been on the receiving end of the man's cruelty. He'd had nightmare's about his time being "partners" with him before so it made sense he'd have one now.

When Mewtwo nodded, her face soften. He must have been dreaming he was fighting with the mob boss. "You don't have to worry about him anymore," she assured him. "That man can't hurt you anymore."

She sounded so sure of herself and he wasn't in any mood to argue. He changed the subject. {I am relieved that you are awake,} he said. "{I was worried.}

Karen smiled, feeling happy he actually cared about her. A welcome change to how he'd felt about her in the past. "I'll be all right," she said. "I guess that fall didn't do as much damage as I thought."

Yes, there was that. He still had no idea how she'd managed not to be seriously injured from it. {Yes,} he said. {But I think you should stay here until the doctors get a chance to look at you and make sure.}

Karen sat back, resting her back against the pillows. "Yeah, you're right," she agreed. "I hope you don't mind. I know how you feel about doctors."

The pokemon got out of the chair and went over to the window. She knew indeed. He wouldn't even allow any nurses at the pokemon center look after him when he was injured. Anyone in a lab coat of any kind touching him brought back some horrible memories. It was why he'd learned Recover, so he wouldn't have to worry about it. Too bad Recover couldn't have been used on her, otherwise he wouldn't have brought her there.

"Mewtwo?" he looked back at her, seeing the girls face once again a mask of worry. "Are you all right?"

{I'm fine,} he told her. {I just need to get out of here for awhile.} he raised his hand to open the window then lifted himself off the floor and flew out of it but turned back to her. {I will be back later. You stay here and heal in the meantime. Don't go anywhere else until I get back, all right?}

Before Karen could answer he'd turned and flown away. The girl watched him disappear over the roof's of the houses before sighing and laying back on the bed. There he went again, hiding things from her. She would think he would fully trust her now that they'd been together for so long.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, she thought, closing her eyes. he will never completely trust anybody.

Mewtwo guessed he should feel bad for not being completely honest with Karen as he flew over the town and away from the doctor's office. But what did he expect her to do about it? If he told her she would just get even more worried and he didn't need that right now. It was best she was kept in the dark until he was able to figure things out and get some answers.

Speaking of getting answers. An image of the young woman who'd helped them the night before flashed in his mind, he knew exactly who would be able to give them to him, he just had to find her.

Pausing, he hovered for a moment above the clock tower in the middle of the town, then turned and made a beeline for the woods.

Finding Platinum proved to be much harder than Mewtwo realized as she didn't seem to be anywhere in or near the forest. Because it was day time the place didn't look the least bit foreboding or that it hid an insane Darkrai. Surprisingly he didn't encounter the Ddarkrai no matter how far into the trees he went.

He must only show up at night, Mewtwo figured.

That was a relief at least, as he wouldn't have to worry about it until nightfall. Hopefully he'd be able to find the young woman beforehand.

The feline pokemon finally concluded that his target would not be found in the forest after all. He found a place to land in a clearing he spotted from above and touched down in the middle of it. Once on the ground he looked around himself at the trees lining the clearing in a circle. Some bug and plant pokemon caught sight of him and either moved away from where he stood or kept their distance watching. None made an attempt to challenge him.

Mewtwo looked at them all, frowning but making no attempt to communicate. What answers could these creatures give him anyway? Even if they knew about the insane Darkrai they wouldn't know anything about a human named Platinum.

Where are you, human?

An image came unbidden to his mind. It was similar to the one he'd gotten when the Darkrai had tried to attack him the night before, black and white and chaotic with screaming as the background sounds. Grunting he stumbled forward, hands grasping his head as pain shot through it.

More images flashed before his eyes, each one worse than the other. Brief glimpses of faceless humans in lab coats and a large building, black and foreboding. Then just like that they stopped and his vision cleared, returning him to the peaceful sunlit forest.

What in the world was that?

Deciding it was best not to spent a moment longer in those woods, Mewtwo lifted himself off the ground and flew out of the clearing, and back to the town. He figured he'd go and check on Karen to make sure she was doing ok. She was probably wondering why he'd flown off the way he had.

The psychic pokemon had nearly arrived at the doctor's office building when he caught sight of a familiar figure standing on the sidewalk below. He paused in mid air and looked toward the ground, seeing that the person he'd spotted was indeed who he thought it was. The young woman Platinum was standing in the middle of the sidewalk below and she was talking to a man with black hair and wearing a brown trench coat.

Mewtwo didn't know who the man was and he couldn't hear what he or Platinum was talking about but that wasn't important. He'd found the woman and now that he had, he was going to talk to her. But first he would have to wait until she was by herself because he didn't feel comfortable confronting her in front of an audience.

So he hovered there, watching the two conversing for the next ten minutes before the man in the coat nodded his head and the two humans parted ways. Mewtwo followed after the young woman, flying over her but not in a way to draw attention. She walked down the street to an older part of the town where she walked through an iron gate and up the driveway to a large but run down looking mansion. surrounded by an over grown lawn and shrubbery that obscured the windows.

Mewtwo flew up to the house and hovered in front of it, trying to see inside the windows. With the shrubbery growing over the glass it was hard to get a look inside. He frowned then teleport ed inside the building without a second thought. The pokemon appeared inside of what looked like a living room. Unlike the exterior of the house the place's interior was in pristine condition, every piece of furniture in its proper place and not a speck of dust anywhere.

The feline pokemon looked around the room, taking in the large book shelves, new looking sofa and recliner and the coffee table that looked like someone had gone to town using Pine sol on. On the far wall was a stone fire place and above it was a painting of a family. A young girl with bright green eyes and dark hair stood in front of a couple with similar features.

Mewtwo floated over to the picture to get a closer look.

"Ever heard of knocking?"

The pokemon nearly jumped out of his skin and he quickly spun around.

Standing in the arching doorway of the living room with her arms folded was the young woman who'd helped him and Karen get out of the forest the night before. The look on her face was a mixture of annoyance and acceptance like she'd been expecting him to come there. "You really should have listened to me," she said, raising a black gloved and snapping her fingers.

A sudden sense of danger filled the room. Mewtwo backed up a little, expecting an attack from someone in the room behind her. {You-} he started to say but he was hit by something from behind

Before he could figure out what had just happened his body was surrounded by a dark orb of energy. A second later everything went black and the orb vanished as he fell to the floor unconscious.

Platinum looked down at the senseless pokemon laying sprawled out on the carpeted floor. The painting above the fireplace spiraled and the white Darkrai came out of it. It flew down and hovered over Mewtwo, creating another dark orb just in case the pokemon got back up.

"No need for that," she told it, putting up her hand. She knelt down to get a closer look at him, placing a gloved hand on his face and lifting it for a better look. "He'll be out for hours. "

So similar to her yet so different, is he somehow related or- she froze, spotting something on his cheek. Her eyes widened and she let go of his face, allowing his head to flop back onto the floor.

Platinum stood back up and looked at her Darkrai who'd been silently watching her. Her eyes met his as she said in a voice that had started to shake. "Let's make our friend comfortable."


	3. Chapter 3

3

"How are you feeling, dear?"

Karen, who had woken up from her nap and had climbed out of the bed to test how she was feeling, looked up when she heard the voice.

A older looking woman dressed in a nurse's uniform stood in the doorway.

"Oh," the girl said, facing the woman. "I'm feeling better."

The nurse commented. "I don't think you should be up so soon."

"I'm fine," Karen insisted, not wanting to get back into bed. Mewtwo had not returned from wherever he had gone and she was getting worried. While she was used to him flying off and not coming back for hours, he usually didn't disappear for long if he knew she wasn't feeling well. "I don't think I was injured seriously."

"Nevertheless," the woman said, walking toward her and taking her arm. She began to coax the girl back into bed. "I think it's best you wait until the doctor has another look at you before you decide to leave."

"But I'm fine!" the Karen argued. "There's no need for me to stay any longer." She knew the nurse was just doing her job but she didn't need it. Plus she was even more worried about Mewtwo as more time passed . "Why don't you get the doctor and we can get his opinion?" she suggested.

The nurse caved at Karen's suggestion and nodded. "Fine," she told the girl. "But if he tells you, you're not well enough to leave you stay in that bed, agreed?"

The girl nodded. "Agreed, but I'm sure he'll confirm that I'm all right."

Once the nurse was gone, Karen went back to walking around the room, making sure she was indeed well enough to leave the doctor's office. All she wanted to do was get out of there and find Mewtwo who still hadn't yet returned.

Where did he go anyway? she wondered, heading over to the window and looking out. "We've never been to this region before, he could get lost or worse." Then she shook her head. "No, he couldn't get lost, he can fly and has a good memory, he'd be able to get back here even if he doesn't know this area."

Still she couldn't help worrying. He was a rare pokemon after all and trainers out there might decide to capture him if they saw him flying around. It had happened multiple times before and she was certain pokemon collectors were the same in every region.

The door opened behind her and she turned to face the nurse from before. She had brought the doctor with her, so she went over to the bed and sat down in it so he could look her over. After giving her a check up to make sure she was healthy enough to leave, the doctor nodded and removed his stethoscope from his ears. "It looks like everything is all right," he told her. "You're free to go but take it easy. If you start feeling light headed or have trouble breathing please come back immediately."

Karen nodded. "Yes sir," she said, slipping off the bed and grabbing her backpack. "I'll be sure to do that."

"All right then," he said, nodding. "and good luck."

The girl thanked the doctor and left, heading quickly out of the building and outside. Now that she'd been discharged it was time for her to start looking for her pokemon. Hopefully he hadn't gone far or run into any kind of trouble.

Mewtwo was having a nightmare. The white Darkrai had used a move called Dark Void on him which had the unpleasant side effect of causing bad dreams. this bad dream played on the Mew clone's inner fears, subjecting him to multiple forms of horror. From him being experimented on further by his creators to being completely enslaved by Giovanni and forced to do his bidding without any choice in the matter.

At one point the dream shifted him back into the lab and faceless scientists had overwhelmed him, grabbing him and holding him down and, when he tried fighting back, he discovered he didn't have any of his powers. In a panic he began to struggle,thrashing about, only to be met by some kind of barrier giving the scientists a chance to grab his limbs and force them down.

A voice began shouting. "Hold him steady! If he keeps this up he's going to hurting himself! "

He fought harder, kicking out with his feet, knocking some of the scientists away. This only prompted more scientists to come at him. Just as it seemed he was going be suffocated by them a bright light burst into his subconscious and he came awake, gasping for breath with arms flailing.

His hands slammed into something cold that shifted when he made contact with it. He smacked it again and it gave way, slamming to the ground with a loud thud. He opened his eyes only to close them again when a bright light blinded him. Turning his head away from it, he raised his hand and placed it over his eyes as he was suddenly hit with a wave of nausea.

{Ugh...}

"Awake now?"

Mewtwo's eyes popped back open at the sound of the voice. He sat up, discovering he was sitting on an old canopy bed covered in a clean white comforter and pillows. The pokemon realized he was in what looked like a bedroom , the wall to his left had a dresser on it with a mirror and on the opposite wall sat another bookshelf and a desk with a chair.

In that chair sat a familiar figure.

{You!} he began.

"Now before you say anything," she cut him off. "I wouldn't advice attacking me or anything like it because if you do." she pointed to the corner of the room by the doorway. Mewtwo looked that way and spotted the white Darkrai floating there with a dark energy orb in his hands. "My friend here will send you back to dreamland. You might be powerful but not even one as strong as you can escape Dark Void."

Mewtwo let that statement sink in, there was also the fact that both pokemon were considered legendary and Darkrai's type was strong against his own. Mewtwo wasn't interested in testing his strength against such a sneaky dark type.

Instead he looked back at her, waiting for her to explain herself. She'd had her Darkrai knock him out and they'd carried him into a bedroom in the house, and he got the feeling she had a reason for this. If she'd wanted him to leave her house they could have dumped him in the yard but instead he was still in the house, so there had to be a reason,

When she said nothing he was forced to demand. {What do you want from me?}

Platinum blinked then folded her arms as she leaned back in her chair. "Well for one," she began. "I want you to explain to me why you broke into my house and it had better be good."

The pokemon took a moment to collect his thoughts. Should he be honest with her and tell her everything or make up something? He felt as if he should be truthful, he had come there to find answers after all. {I want to know why that Darkrai attacked me and Karen and why you seem to know so much about it.}

"Well," she sat back, folding her arms. "Seems you couldn't just let it go, can you?" she looked at her Darkrai who hovered closer. "Tell me, why is it so important to you? You and your trainer could just forget about it and move on through the region, fighting trainers, collecting pokemon, and beating the gym leaders and Elite Four without worrying about it. It really isn't any of your business."

His eyes flashed blue and he said testily. {It became my business when it attacked me and wounded my trainer. I'm not going to just forget about it.}

"Think about your trainer for a moment," she said, putting up her hand. "If you involve yourself in this matter you are not only putting yourself at risk but her as well." she shook her head. "As powerful as you are, I think it's best you don't dive deeper into this. You will only regret it if you do."

{I'll be the judge of that, human.}

Platinum stared at him wordlessly for a moment. Then, seemingly realizing he was not going to let it be, spoke. "A human made him that way."

That served as no surprise to the pokemon. His feelings toward humans were still very negative. {I am not surprised,} he stated plainly. {Humans always come up with ways to make pokemon suffer.}

"I don't know why the person did what he did to the Darkrai unfortunately or how he managed it," she continued. "I only remember seeing the man and those who work for him capture the Darkrai and then I saw it sometime later and it was the way it is now."

Something told him she wasn't being completely honest about it with him. {All you know is that the human did something to that Pokemon and drove it insane then,} he summed it up. He was tempted to try reading her mind but he was fully aware of the Darkrai beside her and what it could do to him. {So, you're telling me you know nothing about why that human destroyed the Darkrai's sanity, yet you implied there was more to it than that when you helped Karen and I escape the forest.}

He didn't mention he'd seen Platinum discussing things with the man in the trench coat earlier that day. You can lie to me, but I am going to find out what this is all about, one way or another.

"You must have heard me wrong," she answered avoiding the subject. "I told you it wasn't important. It's not important. I gave you the answers you were looking for. Now you can leave and focus on whatever it is you and your trainer came to this region for."

{No,} he persisted. {it is important that I get all the facts, I might wind up running into whoever did that. They might even go after me and my trainer. If I don't know who they are how am I going to protect her?}

"You can protect her by not meddling," Platinum replied testily. "I already told you you will regret it is you find out. You will put that girl in danger if you don't let it go right now." she stood up, looking the pokemon in the eyes. "you're a pokemon, one I can tell has had horrible experiences with bad humans. Maybe even tortured and experimented on." he looked away when she said this. "If you meddle, get yourself involved, you will only draw attention to yourself and you won't like that attention. He will become interested, you're just the right kind of pokemon that-" she stopped talking.

{Just the right kind of pokemon that what?} Mewtwo demanded, focusing on her again.

"I think I've said enough," the girl turned her attention to the white Darkrai. "You won't listen to me anyway, but I'm not going to help you put that girl in danger. " she signaled to the Darkrai who began forming purple energy between its hands. "find out more if you wish, but don't come crying to me when you get into trouble. This conversation is over. Sorry I wasn't a good hostess, sweet dreams Mewtwo."

Then before he could say or do anything to stop it Darkrai hit him with Dark Void, engulfing him and sending him back into terrifying slumber.

Platinum paced in front of the now sleeping pokemon, hands buried deep in the pockets of her coat, as she muttered her frustration. Just as she feared, this pokemon was going to ignore her advice and get himself involved.

"Why can't he just listen?" she asked herself out loud. "he's going to not only get himself hurt but that poor girl he brought with him. I have enough to worry about already, I don't need this pokemon coming in and making the problem worse!"

The girl paused, breathing deeply for a moment to calm herself down. Now was not the time to panic, she could deal with this. Just because this pokemon was going to stubbornly get in the way of things didn't mean she had to lose control. What also made it worse was that she hadn't had a chance to ask him her own questions, like how he'd gotten that mark on his face that she'd noticed earlier.

She looked at the white Darkrai. "What do you think I should do?" she asked when it met her gaze. "I mean I can't just lock him up somewhere until this is over, his trainer is going to come looking for him." she looked over at Mewtwo now. "I wish Mari were here. I could ask her to erase his memories..."

Platinum shook her head, banishing the idea. "No, that wouldn't do either." she turned her attention on her Darkrai once more. "I guess all we can do for now is return him to his trainer."

The girl went over and knelt down beside the psychic pokemon, draping his arm over her shoulder and standing up. As she turned back to her Darkrai there was a noise from downstairs. Platinum wasn't expecting anybody and they would have wrung the doorbell anyway.

"Seems we have company," she stated. "and I don't think they're friendly." she made sure she had a firm grip on Mewtwo as she went to the wall and pressed a hidden switch that opened to reveal a secret passageway. "Come on, let's get out of here."

She took a step in but paused when she noticed her Darkrai hadn't moved. Looking back at him she noticed the determined look on his face and began shaking her head vigorously. "Don't you dare do that," she ordered. "You know they're after you anyway and if you confront them you will be playing right into their hands. You're not protecting her by becoming a martyr, they will just use you to lure her in, now come on!"

The white Darkrai seemed to let that sink in for a moment then quickly flew over to join her in the passage. Once he was inside she hit the button and the wall closed. She looked at the dark type pokemon. "Let's go."

The girl, her pokemon, and Mewtwo quickly moved down the passage, pausing at certain times to listen to the movement happening on the other side of the walls. Platinum couldn't be sure but it sounded like there were multiple people inside her house, searching all of the rooms. She could make out the telltale sounds of breaking furniture. They were trashing the place!

But now was not the time to worry about that, they had to get out of the place and far away from it before they found the passage. She shifted her hold on Mewtwo's sleeping form and moved on, her Darkrai floating protectively close. Moments later they came to a dead end. Putting out her hand she touched the wall and it slid open, revealing a short ravine and forest below. Taking a deep breath to steel her nerves she jumped over the edge, falling downward into the trees. she felt Darkrai grab her from behind, slowing her descent.

Once landing they dashed into the trees, the foliage completely obscuring their progress.

Back inside the building people in black and dark purple uniforms continued scouring the house for the young woman and her pokemon. They entered rooms, broke and knocked over furniture, and just made a huge mess as they searched everywhere for the occupants. A few went upstairs to search up there while the others stayed downstairs, a couple beginning to knock on the walls in search of secret passages.

While the people in uniform searched the house a shadow passed over the landing as a figure stepped in the front doorway. It stood there quietly, watching everyone moving about, until one of them noticed it and stepped toward it.

"Sir," they said, saluting. "we have secured the place."

"What of the residents?" the figure asked, their voice deep and menacing. "Have you found the Darkrai?"

The underling shook their head. "Not at this time," they responded. "but some have gone to search the rooms upstairs and others have made attempts to locate any secret passages. No luck yet, but we should be getting an update soon."

"Good," the figure smiled in a sinister way. "They can't hide forever. I will have that Darkrai and when I do it is going to give me all the information I need."


	4. Chapter 4

4

Karen wasn't having any luck finding her pokemon. She'd walked through the streets of the town, whose name she found out was Iris, asking bystanders if any of them has seen a pokemon that looked like a big hairless purple cat, but so far none had claimed to see such a pokemon. Eventually she'd found her way into the park Platinum had led Mewtwo and her into the night before.

She sat down on a bench with a sigh. "Where is he?" she asked out loud. "Where did he go?He has never left me alone this long before. Did he abandon me?" she reached into her backpack and took out Mewtwo's master ball. The device gave no indication that the psychic pokemon had done anything to force it to release him. He still belonged to her.

So where is he then?

The girl lifted her head and looked around at all the hedges trimmed to look like pokemon. She saw the usual types most people chose to create. Pikachu, Jigglepuff, Piplup, Raltz, an anorexic Mewtwo with pointy ears..

Wait!

Karen blinked and looked back at the last hedge, staring at it longer. She got up and walked over to the hedge art to get a better look, studying it more intently.

What in the world is this?!

"Enjoying the artwork?"

Karen, who had been so focused on staring at the strange looking Mewtwo, jumped when she heard the voice. She spun around, spotting a man in a trench coat standing a few feet behind her. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Oh yes!" she looked back at the pokemon art. "Do you- can you tell me about this one?"

The man in the coat walked forward and stood behind her as he stared at the art. "Oh this, this is the region's resident legendary."

"Their legendary?" she asked curiously.

"Yes," he said, nodding. "The story goes that this pokemon crash landed in the mountains near here. The residents believe it came from a far off star."

"Really?" she studied the pokemon once more. "Is it still on the mountain?"

The man shrugged. "Who knows, it's just a legend. There's no real proof it happened."

"But legendary pokemon exist," she pointed out. "They're not fictional and besides," she looked back at the hedge art. "It sort of looks like Mewtwo."

"Mewtwo?" the man looked at her, placing a hand on his chin. "The pokemon that Giovanni had artificially created?"

How did this guy know that? Had he been to other regions? "Umm... I guess so..." she replied in a quiet voice. "Does it matter that Mewtwo was created in a lab? He's still a pokemon, a living creature. He shouldn't be considered artificial, even if some people will claim he's nothing but a copy and not a real pokemon."

The man looked at her thoughtfully. "You sound like you know a lot about that pokemon." he observed.

Karen suddenly realized she had said too much and turned the conversation back to the legendary of the region. "Are there any legends about it?" she questioned him. "like did it do anything important once it crashed from the sky?"

The man concluded the girl didn't want to talk about Mewtwo anymore and didn't press the matter. He did however answer her question. "There is a story that the pokemon did save the region from a horrible catastrophe," he paused, as he recounted the story. "I'm not exactly sure how, but some say after it happened the large valley became flooded with water creating the Cobalt Bay."

He turned, pointing to the south, past the buildings and the thick forest surrounding it. "The bay is beyond the forest here, there is believed to be a single island in the center of the bay with a lighthouse. You can usually see the light from there on clear nights."

She looked the way he pointed. "Did the pokemon flood the valley?" she asked. "was that how it saved the people here? What about those who lived in the valley?"

He shook his head. "I doubt any of that actually happened," he answered, also studying the art now. "it's just a legend after all. The bay has always been part of this region and the ocean has always filled it. If there was a valley it was flooded naturally millions of years ago."

"Is there anything special about the bay at all?" she pressed him, "What about the island with the lighthouse?"

"The lighthouse was said to have been built on the island so that ships could find their way to the bay," he answered her. "the bay itself is also said to conceal a very large pokemon in its depths. A massive fish with jaws that are said to be so powerful they could bite a warship in half." The man finally noticed the look on her face and attempted to reassure her. "Don't worry about it, not a single person living in the region has actually seen this water pokemon, so it's believed to just be a story with no basis in reality." he paused and corrected himself. "well to be honest some say it does exist and this pokemon here summoned it to be some kind of guardian. Of what I can't even begin to comprehend."

Karen continued to stare at the pokemon. "I wonder what it wanted it to guard?" she pondered.

The man shrugged. "Who knows?" he said, turning to go. "As I said, it's just a legend." then he walked away before she could ask anymore questions.

The girl watched him go then looked back at the shrub, realizing the man had left her with more questions than answers.

"Did you really fall from the sky? Are you actually real or just a legend like he says?"

The girl didn't realize it, but a creature with glowing blue eyes was watching her from behind some trees. It seemed to study her for a moment before it turned and flew off into the sky.

The ground moved swiftly below him, a brown and green blur that suddenly shifted to the bright blue of a large body of water. He slowed his flight, taking time to drink in the scenery. Below him was water so clear he could see the bottom in the more shallow places.

Suddenly overcome with a strange urge he dived into it, surrounding himself with an air bubble so he could breath and he dove deeper and deeper below the surface, further and further down, where the light began to fade and darkness surrounded him. His eyes glowed blue, his powers creating some kind of light as he continued to dive until something told him to stop.

Pausing he looked around, eyes scanning the ocean floor until they came to stop on something. He headed toward it then froze as something large suddenly blocked his way. His eyes widened, his powers casting a pale light on the creature that barred the way. A giant fish type pokemon nearly ten times his size swam past him. He saw rows of large, jagged teeth and then an eye, glowing white with a slit for a pupil before the rest of it passed him, a monster of a beast with six deadly sharp looking fins and a skeletal tail that whipped at him, crashing hard into the bubble and knocking him backward.

Panic set in as he tumbled backward, head of tail until he managed to stop himself. Terrified he rapidly looked around himself, scanning the darkness for the creature.

There!

His eyes widened as he caught sight of it, the glowing eyes of the creature giving away its location.

It was coming right at him!

Before he could attempt to make an escape, large jaws came down on him and everything went black.

Mewtwo woke a the worst possible time, Platinum and her Darkrai had just jumped down from a somewhat high ledge and were still falling when he came too. Having just been in a nightmare about a giant fish trying to eat him, the fall freaked him out and his powers manifested, calling the girl and her pokemon to suddenly go from falling, coming to an complete stop. They hovered there for a moment before Mewtwo's powers suddenly failed and the three crashed to the ground.

"Ow!" the girl exclaimed. "What in the world was-" then she realized Mewtwo had awakened and turned her head to look at him. "You chose the worst time to wake up, my friend."

This woman. He would have given her a sound punishment for what she'd done to him but then he realized they were not inside her house anymore. He looked up at the trees, taking note that they were in the woods.

{Where are we?}

Platinum slowly stood, dropping her hold on Mewtwo and letting him flop on his side on the ground. She looked around, as if she was expecting something to appear, ignoring his question. The white Darkrai had also gotten off the ground and was floating around them nervously.

Mewtwo tried to get up but found he couldn't. His powers didn't seem to want to work and he couldn't move either.

{What did you do to me?!} he demanded.

Platinum, as if just remembering he was there, looked down at him, and seeming to come to some realization, swore and knelt down, once again draping his arm around her shoulder and lifting him up, she moved quickly, Darkrai following after her.

{Release me at once!} he ordered her. {I will not allow you to make me your prisoner any longer!]

"You don't seem to have much of a choice right now," she said emotionless. "You don't seem to be able to move on your own and I'm guessing it's because of what you did back there after you woke up. I didn't know psychic pokemon could paralyze themselves."

Was that what had happened? No, it didn't make sense. Her Darkrai must have used some kind of move on him that did it. {I don't believe you.}

"I don't care if you believe me or not," she stated, looking over her shoulder then ahead again. "The only thing I care about right now is getting as far away from here as I can."

Mewtwo wondered why. He'd picked up on something in her voice and in her pace. It was some kind of urgency. What was she running away from?

Screeching came from the trees ahead and Platinum stopped, swearing under her breath only to relax when a flock of an unknown species of bird pokemon flew out of the trees. They were a blue color with purple breast feathers and small gold colored crowns on their heads, they didn't pay any attention to the three on the ground as they took to the sky and flew out of sight.

"Just Peepril," the girl muttered before moving on. "at least it wasn't a Peproyal..."

They kept going, the young woman's pacing increasing with urgency. Mewtwo wondered what was causing her to pick up her pace, whatever it was it had her bothered. If his powers hadn't decided to go out on him again this would have been the perfect opportunity to read her mind.

The white Darkrai suddenly flew ahead and vanished into the trees. Mewtwo then began to notice it was beginning to get dark and the memory of the night before flashed into his mind. If night was coming that meant that insane Darkrai that had attacked him and Karen the night before might show up again.

He needn't worry too much about that because a minute later the trees parted and Platinum and him were suddenly in a large field. He looked around, expecting to see Iris Town close by but only the open field lay before them with it coming to stop at a mountain range about five hundred feet away.

Where had she taken him?

Platinum didn't bother explaining. She pressed forward, covering the distance quickly and reaching the mountain range. However, instead of climbing it she pressed forward, stepping around what looked like a solid rock wall into a well hidden cave. Her Darkrai was waiting for them, having already lit a lanturn. Once they were inside she let out a sigh of relief and removed Mewtwo's arm from around her shoulders, sitting him down with his back resting against the cold stone walls.

"We'll have to wait here for awhile," she explained to him. "Can you move on your own yet?"

He tried to do so but was still unable to. She frowned at him and let out a frustrated sigh. "Just what I don't need right now."

The pokemon frowned at her. It wasn't his fault he couldn't move, it wasn't even his fault they were hiding in this cave!

{If you hadn't kidnapped me this never would have happened!} he accused.

"I didn't kidnap you!" she shot back.

{Then why did you bring me here?} he demanded. {It wasn't my idea.}

"It doesn't concern you."

{Like hell it doesn't!} he growled, his eyes briefly flashing blue. {I came to your house to get an explanation about last night and you knock me out, avoiding answering my questions then I do get a chance to ask them, then you knock me out again and drag me out into the middle of nowhere instead of just letting me go back to my human companion!} he glared at her, becoming more angry. {I deserve an explanation after all you have put me through!}

Platinum looked away to avoid his stare, refusing to give him an explanation.

That only put Mewtwo into an even worse mood. Stupid human, they always think they don't need to explain any of their actions to anybody! If his powers were to just come back already he would make her tell him, even if it meant risking another round of nightmares from that Darkrai of hers!

"I did intend to take you back to your trainer," Platinum said suddenly. She leaned against the wall of the cave and folded her arms. "But something happened that was out of my control and I had to get us out of the area as quickly as possible."

So now she was going to explain what happened and why she'd drug him all the way out there. The psychic pokemon didn't say anything, thinking if he did she might clam up again. He would just let her talk and hopefully she'd give him a proper explanation for all of this nonsense.

"I guess it involves you now as well since you wound up coming with us," she continued. "I couldn't exactly leave you there where they could find you."

They?

"However I can't say your involvement started here seeing as she decided to leave her mark on you, though for the life of me I don't know why she would do such a thing." the human continued.

She? Who was the young woman talking about? And what mark?

Platinum was looking at her Darkrai now. As if she were having a conversation with it that Mewtwo was unable to hear. He wondered if they were using some kind of telepathy or something.

"I agree," she said to the dark pokemon. "Only problem is how are we going to get him back to her if they are swarming the town? "

{If you are going to have a discussion involving me, I would appreciate it if you didn't talk about it like I'm not here,} he said, irritated.

The young woman turned her head, returning her attention to the psychic pokemon. "We'll discuss that more later," she told him. "For now I think the three of us really need to talk..."

The residents had escaped.

The man in the dark suit was not happy with the news. He stood outside of Platinum's house smoking a cigarette, letting the realization sink it.

The white Darkrai had escaped his grasp again.

"Sir!" a voice called out and he turned his head back toward the house. "Yes?" he demanded.

"We found something," the speaker, a woman wearing a slightly different uniform from the rest said. "There was a secret passage in one of the rooms. We think they might have escaped through there."

"Have you sent anyone to find out?" he asked, feeling hope returning.

The woman nodded. "Already on it, sir," she confirmed. "the passage led out to the woods and we've send some men with Houndooms to track them down."

"Good." the man smiled, feeling a whole lot better now. "They can't run forever. This time I will have that white Darkrai!"


	5. Chapter 5

5

"There are some people after my Darkrai," Platinum began her explanation in a somewhat rushed tone. "some very bad people."

That was pretty much what Mewtwo had figured. {The same people who are responsible for driving that other Darkrai insane?} the psychic pokemon asked.

She nodded, her green eyes intense. "The very same ones."

"Why would they be after your Darkrai?} he questioned her. "[is it because it's a white one? Does it have some kind of special ability?}

She shook her head. "No, he's just like a normal Darkrai, but white. It's not a shiny either," she claimed. "It's not what he has that they want, but what he knows."

A normal Darkrai but white. Odd. {What does he know?}

"The location of a very special pokemon."The young woman responded in a somewhat dramatic voice.

A very special pokemon? What did she mean by that?

It could be another legendary, he concluded. Humans seem to be obsessed with finding and capturing legendary pokemon. It was like they had nothing else to do with their lives.

{What makes this pokemon special?} he questioned her. As Mewtwo spoke he began to regain feeling in his body, however he didn't let on in case the human decided to use her Darkrai on him again or stop talking. {What does "he" hope to gain by discovering its location?}

Platinum could only shake her head once more. "I don't know what he wants from her," she replied. "I just know he's been after her for a long time now. He had her once before but she got away and he is determined to get her back at all costs."

Liar.

{You intend to prevent him from capturing "her" then,} he stated. {she must be very important to you if you're going out of your way to ensure nobody finds her. }

"It's not like that," she denied the claim, shoving her gloved hands deep into the pockets of her trench coat.. "I just don't want that man getting his hands on her. You saw what he did to the Darkrai in the woods, and it's obvious from that that he most likely harmed her as well and will harm her again if he gets her back." her face filled with determination "I can't let people like that get away with harming pokemon like that."

It made sense. There were humans out there that did truly care about pokemon, whether it was their own or just the creatures in general. He shouldn't be surprised she would want to protect it. However he knew there was more to it than she was letting on. Just by her body language and the tone of her voice gave away that this "her" she was talking about was a creature she had some kind of personal feelings for, as if it wasn't just a random wild pokemon she was keeping safe from a bad person. He wasn't going to push the matter, she could continue to pretend she didn't know more about the situation than she claimed, he would find out eventually. One way or another.

But what did the human mean by she "marked" him? What was she implying by that statement anyway?

{You said she marked me, what did you mean?]

Platinum pushed herself away from the wall and went to the entrance of the cave to look out. Seemingly satisfied that nobody had discovered their location yet she turned back to him. "That is something I would like to know as well."

What was that supposed to mean? {I don't know what you're talking about.}

She pointed at his face. "There is a mark on you," she explained. "it looks similar to the symbols written in the lore for that pokemon. It's given to those who have been touched by her, if you have it it means you had some kind of encounter with her and she thinks you're important enough to pass it on to."

Mewtwo suddenly flashed back to the night before after he'd fallen from the sky when his powers failed and he'd crashed, he could recall a strange, white colored creature looming over him and reaching out. Had that been the pokemon she was talking about and when he'd gotten "marked?"

{You said it's part of some kind of lore, and her "marking" me is part of it,} he said, hoping to get more of an answer for the human. {I don't know anything about this pokemon aside from what you're telling me. You live in this region, I don't. Even if you don't have a personal connection to her, you do at least know any legends surrounding her. Surely it wouldn't do you any harm to tell me more.}

"Hmmm..." she made a face, seeming to consider it which only annoyed him further. Why would she hesitate to tell him about the lore for legendary pokemon in the region? It wasn't like that information was classified. If he were to visit any library in Ario he'd most likely find facts or legends.

This human wasn't very consistent and it was irritating.

After a few seconds of silence, Platinum started to say something then froze, listening. Mewtwo also listened, becoming aware of the faint sound of barking. The human again looked out of the cave and swore, quickly pulling her head back in.

"Looks like we're going to have to finish this conversation some other time," she said, moving away from the entrance, back over to where her Darkrai was floating silently. She glanced at Mewtwo. "Can you move?"

The Mew clone tried again and was glad when he could actually do so. He floated up to stand on his feet, eyes glowing bright blue as he did. He was very tempted to shoot across the cavern and grab the girl by the throat, but controlled this impulse. There were more important things to focus on.

Platinum's only reaction to that was a nod, though a slight relaxation of her face made him wonder if she'd been expecting him to do the same thing. "Good," she said. "Now get out of here before they see you."

That was what he'd wanted to do since the beginning. He lifted off the ground but, feeling a slight bit of concern for her, paused briefly to face the human and her pokemon. {What about you? How do you intend to get away from them?}

"Don't worry about us," she told him. "You just focus on not being seen and getting back to your trainer. If they spot you you're going to be just as wanted as Darkrai and she is." she waved him off and she and her Darkrai headed deeper into the cave. "Now go!"

Mewtwo needed no second bidding. He turned from the two and floated toward the entrance, taking a cautious look outside. The barking had grown louder but he couldn't see the pokemon making the sounds or their owners. With no intention of waiting until he could, the pokemon flew around the stone hiding the entrance and shot into the air without another look back.

Time go back to Iris Town and check on Karen. She was probably worried sick!

"Hey!" One of the man in black's underlings shouted, stopping in their tracks to point into the sky. "What is that?"

His companions looked up where he was pointing. All caught sight of a large cat like creature flying away from the area their Houndooms were leading them to.

"Is that it?" one asked.

Another had brought binoculars. "I don't think so," he said, raising them to his eyes for a better look. "it doesn't look like the one the Boss is after." he lowered the binoculars and handed them over to another so they could look.

"You're right," they confirmed, adjusting the lenses for a sharper focus. "it's not the same, but it looks similar. It could be a different species."

"Should we go back and tell the Boss?" the first one asked.

The one who had brought the binocular's thought it over. "One of us should tell him," he stated with a nod. "You head back and let him know, the rest of us will keep going. You know how much he wants that Darkrai."

So it was decided. The one who had gotten the best look at the flying creature would go back and tell their boss about it while the others continued on.

It was turning out to be a very eventful night.

Back in Iris Town Karen was still waiting for Mewtwo's return. She'd grown lonely during the afternoon and sent out the rest of her pokemon, an Absol, a Vaporeon, a Espeon, her Lampent, and a female Gardevoir. Four of the pokemon wandered around the park, looking at the hedge art and just enjoying the peace of the place, her Gardevoir sat on the bench with her, listening to the girl as she talked about how worried she was.

"He's never been gone this long before," she said to the fairy pokemon. "I'm really concerned about him. What if he doesn't come back? I know we don't always get along but I thought we were at least friends, or at least he seemed to care."

She looked at Gardevoir. "If he didn't care he wouldn't have gone through so much to rescue me from Giovanni, even though he knew that horrible man wanted to make him his slave."

Gardevoir knew the story. The beautiful pokemon nodded and put a hand comfortingly on her arm. If she knew how to speak like Mewtwo did she would have told her everything was going to be okay and Mewtwo would come back. He always did, he'd grown very protective of the human girl in the time they were together.

The girl sighed and leaned back on the bench, titling her head upward to stare at the darkening skies. "I hope he's all right," she said more to herself than to Gardevoir. "what if he's lying hurt somewhere? What if that Darkrai did something to him? Psychic pokemon are weak against dark pokemon, he could be dying somewhere in those woods and I have no way of finding him!"

Karen took out the Master Ball and looked at it. The pokemon storage container gave no indication that Mewtwo had died as the light on it still blinked. It made her feel a little better but didn't do anything to qualm her fears. Mewtwo could still be injured somewhere out there with no way of getting back to her.

She put the ball back into her backpack and slung it over her arm as she stood up. "I'm really not doing anything useful sitting here and waiting," she told her Gardevoir. "I should be out there looking for him." She looked at her other pokemon who were still exploring the park. "Let's go, guys," she said. "It's time we set about finding him."

Her pokemon quickly rushed over to join her as she headed out of the park. She walked down the street, deciding it was time to leave the town and search the area close by to see if she could find her pokemon. She hoped he hadn't gone further than that because she knew nothing about the region or how to navigate it and the map she'd had had been utterly useless.

Lucky for her she wound up saved from that big headache when she heard a voice calling her from above.

"Karen!"

The girl lifted her head, catching sight of Mewtwo flying toward her. "Oh!" she exclaimed, and he flew down to meet her. "I was about to go looking for you, where have you been?"

{It's a long story} he responded letting out a huge frustrated sigh, as the girl's other pokemon surrounded the two so they could greet him. Gardevoir took his arm and hugged it to herself, looking more relieved than anyone else to see him back though he didn't really notice. {but I think we should find some place to stay for the night before I tell you anything}

Mewtwo looked around himself then leaned in to speak in a softer voice. {It might be dangerous to talk about it in the open.}

Karen wasn't sure what he meant by that but nodded, deciding to trust him on the matter. She put the rest of her pokemon back in their balls, except for Gardevoir who seemed to want to spend more time outside of it, before she and Mewtwo headed toward an Inn where they could get a room for the night.

Once they'd paid for it they went up into the room and Karen closed the door as Mewtwo and Gardevoir sat down on the bed. "All right," she said, turning to her pokemon now. "I think we've got plenty of privacy here, so why don't you tell me where you've been all day and what happened?"

Mewtwo used his telepathy to close the blinds on the room's single window before he began his story.

Back in the cave Platinum and her Darkrai were navigating their way through it . The young woman held a flashlight out ahead of her to light their way as her pokemon hovered protectively close. If any pokemon in the cave ventured too close he'd chase them away.

"I think we're almost out," she told him, after about an hour. "The exit shouldn't be too much further. I'm glad I have you with me, otherwise I would get lost in here, even though we've been through here before." she chuckled a little. "Must be because we're being pursued, it's got my mind a confused mess!"

Darkrai put a hand on her shoulder as they pressed on. After a few more moments Platinum could see a light ahead, that grew larger the closer they got to it. Relieved, she increased her step, heading for the light.

They'd almost reached the exit when the silence was broken by a loud "Woof!"

Platinum turned her head, looking back into the darkness. The sound had been unsettlingly close. "Let's get out of here!"

Increasing her pace she rushed toward the exit, breaking into a full run when she heard the barking again but much closer. Seconds later she burst out of the exit and into night darkened flat lands. She didn't even slow her pace as she struck out across it, not looking back. Moments later she could hear a howl and then voices calling after her.

"Get out of here!" she shouted to her Darkrai. "If they catch me it's no big deal I don't have the information they're after, but you're too important! Flee before they send out a pokemon with an advantage over you!"

The white Darkrai hesitated, looking at her worriedly. She smiled reassuringly. "I'll be fine," she told him. "Just go! Now!"

The dark type pokemon nodded and took to the air, flying high and out of range of anything their pursuers could throw at him.

"Good boy," Platinum said as he flew away from her.

She reached into her coat and pulled out a pokeball. Without missing a beat she summoned the pokemon inside, a Suicune that began to run beside her. The young woman reached out and grabbed the legendary beast's main, pulling herself up onto it's back.

"Okay," she said to it, "let's get out of here!"

The beast let out a roar and increased its step, dashing quickly away and out of sight.

Those who had been hunting them down could do nothing to prevent the events that happened. After the girl rode off on her pokemon the pursuers stopped in their tracks, watching helplessly as they lost their targets.

"The boss isn't going to be happy about this," one said as the Houndooms who had run ahead began heading back to their masters. He knelt down to scratch one behind its ears. "I'm afraid to imagine how he's going to take the news."

"We almost had them," the leader of the group pointed out.

"Yeah," a third said, stepping around him and leaning over to pet his own Houndoom. "but almost isn't good enough. You know he's not going to be satisfied with that. He wanted us to catch that Darkrai and now it got away, and we couldn't even catch that girl either!"

"How did she even catch a Suicune?" the first one asked, looking up from his pokemon.

"Who cares?" the leader snapped. "The boss isn't interested in Suicune. He wants that Darkrai!"

"Looks like he isn't going to be getting that Darkrai." the third snorted. "It's gone and flown off to who knows where."

Their leader swore, looking through his binoculars to watch the decreasing form of the girl and her pokemon. "That girl is becoming a real pain in the rear," he grumbled. "but they have been separated now." he lowered the glasses and pulled out a pokeball. Tossing it on the ground it opened to reveal a pale humanoid pokemon that looked like it was wearing translucent white robes. It stared at its trainer with flowing yellow eyes. "Banshill," he addressed it. "Go after that Darkrai. If anyone can find it now, you can."

The pale pokemon nodded and turned, creating a small glowing leaf that faded into glittering dust. The wind caught the dust and blew it into the air, the specks taking the form of a pale string. The Banshill took the string and left the ground, beginning its search.

The leader turned to the others with a smirk. "It won't be able to escape us now." he said. "Move out!"

The lone man from the hunting party returned to Platinum's house where their boss was waiting. He found the man in black waiting by his limo, smoking a cigarette while his secretary sat in the car, working on a laptop computer.

"Sir," the man turned his head when the searcher spoke.

"Well?" the man asked when his underling drew near. "have you captured that Darkrai?"

"I do not know, sir," the other man responded. "The others were still pursuing them when I left."

"So why are you back then?" his boss demanded impatiently.

"Well, while we were out searching for them I spotted something in the sky." he proceeded to tell his boss about the pokemon he saw.

When he was finished the his boss placed a hand on his chin, thoughtfully. "So you're saying this pokemon looks very nearly like the one we've been looking for?"

The other man nodded. "Yes, it had some differences but it looked similar."

"Huh, I see." the man turned to his secretary who'd been listening to the conversation. She clicked on some keys and an image showed up on the screen. "This what you saw?"

The man looked at the picture and his eyes widened and he nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what I saw!"

His boss smirked. "Interesting," he remarked. "Looks like Giovanni's escape artist has decided to pay our region a little visit. We'll just have to make sure we make it feel welcome."

Karen listened with rapt attention as Mewtwo recounted his story, from when he arrived at Platinum's house to when he'd been taken to the cave. He left nothing out, even the information Platinum had given him about the Darkrai that had attacked them the previous night.

When he finished she said in a near whisper. "So it does exist after all."

The pokemon looked up at her. {What do you mean 'it does exist'?} he questioned.

"The creature Platinum called "her'," she explained. "it sounds a lot like the legendary pokemon the man in the park told me about."'

{What legendary pokemon?} he wanted to know.

So Karen told her pokemon the story. When she was finished he asked her some questions, more interested about the way the legendary looked than the lore behind it. {Are you saying this pokemon looked a great deal like me?}

"Yes," she nodded. "it looked similar to you but it had differences as well. It was thinner than you and its face and ears were shaped differently."

{Show me.}

She blinked. Why was he so interested? "Now?" she asked him. "but it's late and its dark out."

The psychic pokemon didn't seem to care. {Yes, now,} he said, getting off the bed. {I want to see it for myself.}

"Okay..." the girl complied, getting out of the chair she'd sat down in. Gardevoir had also gotten up. "It's not too late now, so it should be okay." she headed for the door now. "let's go."

Ten minutes later the three were in the park standing around the hedge art of the strange legendary pokemon. Mewtwo stood directly in front of it, studying it. He looked very serious and seemed to be glaring at the art. Karen and Gardevoir watched him silently, wondering what was on his mind.

After a few moments Mewtwo spoke. {You're right Karen, it does look a little like me,} he reached out, touching the piece. {But not like me at the same time. Did that man you spoke to tell you its name?}

The girl shook her head. "No, he just told me the legend that I told you earlier. I didn't think to ask because I was more worried about you."

Mewtwo looked over at her. {I think it's about time we find out more about this pokemon,} he told her. {It could be the answer to all of our questions.}


End file.
